BYU football: Cougars crush Lobos 40-7

BYU boxscore

PROVO — With a chance to become bowl-eligible, and with a huge showdown against arch-rival Utah looming next week, the BYU Cougars entered Saturday's game against New Mexico hoping to continue the momentum they had built up in previous weeks.

The Cougars didn't play as cleanly as they did in routs of UNLV and Colorado State, but they still managed to pound the Lobos, 40-7, on Senior Day at LaVell Edwards Stadium.

"It's a great thing to be bowl-eligible," said running back JJ Di Luigi. "It means we get another game at the end of the year. Four weeks ago, who would have known that we could have done this? It's an exciting time."

With the victory, BYU has won five of its last six games, including four in a row, and will go bowling for the sixth consecutive year. What's more, the Cougars (6-5, 5-2) have a winning record again after digging themselves out of a 1-4 abyss.

"Through everything that we've been through, it means a lot to every single one of us," true freshman Jake Heaps said of becoming bowl-eligible. "To come back from the adversity that we had and to be able to come together as a team when so many people didn't think we could do it, we persevered through all of that."

BYU jumped out to an early lead against New Mexico (1-10, 1-5) thanks to a couple of Lobo turnovers.

On UNM's first drive, Cougar defensive lineman Eathyn Manumaleuna intercepted true freshman quarterback Stump Godfrey and returned it 30 yards to the Lobo 12-yard line. Heaps scored a few plays later on a one-yard keeper to make it 7-0 for the Cougars.

"The first series, a quarterback is trying to throw away a screen, and throws it hard at a nose tackle's knees, and he catches it," BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall said. "It was a great play."

"I knew he had that good of hands, but I didn't think he was that slow," defensive lineman Vic So'oto said of Manumaleuna. "I was sure he was going to score a touchdown. He was looking back and I was like, 'Toss me the ball.'"

On UNM's ensuing possession, Godfrey fumbled and cornerback Brandon Bradley recovered in Lobo territory. But the offense stalled, so the Cougars had to settle for a 34-yard field goal by Mitch Payne.

"(The turnovers were) critical, with a team in New Mexico that I thought played hard," Mendenhall said. "If I could have scripted it, I would have done it like that."